South China Sea disputes
Vietnam has lodged a formal complaint against China's accelerated dredging at the disputed Antelope Reef in the Paracel Islands, following recent reports of initial reclamation work there. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Pham Thu Hang stated that Vietnam 'resolutely opposes' such activities, calling them 'completely illegal and invalid' without Hanoi's permission.
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Ruhanas Harun, an international relations professor at Malaysia's National Defence University, told a maritime symposium in China's Hainan province that Asean member states prefer 'quiet diplomacy' for maritime disputes, but power asymmetry makes South China Sea issues hard to resolve. Chinese analysts say Beijing supports this approach as long as sovereignty claims are settled bilaterally.